ᴍʏ ᴘᴀʀᴀᴍᴏᴜʀ | ꜱ.ᴄᴀᴍᴇʀᴏɴ

nine.

Marley grumbled as she clicked open her phone, but the screen remained dark. It seemed she might have dropped it during one of the many near-death experiences she had endured in just three days. The thought lingered in her mind - would it get worse, or could the Pogues find a way to escape the precarious situation they had unwittingly stumbled into? Now, with John B bringing up the Royal Merchant, Marley felt a pit forming, a hole she wasn't ready to delve into just yet.

JJ had tasked her with a trip to the corner shops near the docks to grab a few things for the house. Since their father was absent, Marley was the only one with a job out of the twins. She stared blankly at her phone, hoping for a miracle that would bring it back to life, but her luck didn't seem to favor her. Dismissing the futile attempt, she tucked her phone into her pocket and continued down the path toward the docks.

To her surprise, before entering the shop, she caught a glimpse of John B hosing himself down with water to freshen up. The two hadn't seen each other since the lighthouse, and Marley had no idea what had happened to him and Kiara after the police showed up, as they had decided to leave before the authorities even arrived. They had panicked when hearing the sirens, and JJ was good at convincing people.

"Yo, John B," Marley greeted the boy with a nod, causing him to look over at her and smile. He leaned down to turn off the hose, grabbing his green towel from one of the wooden ledges as they walked closer to each other. "You alright? What happened after the police showed up?"

"They got us, well, me. They got me," John B sighed, rubbing his hair with his towel to dry it. "Luckily for me, Kiara's dad bailed me out...You can imagine how that went."

"Yeah..." Marley nodded with a sigh of her own, thinking of the enjoyment of the wrath he got from Kiara father. He didn't say it with words or never really showed it to their face, but he didn't like the Pogues considering he himself was a Kook, "Listen, JJ and I are gonna chill at our house later if you wan-"

A voice in the distance cut her sentence off, a man from the opposite side of the docks, "Marley! Ward C's looking all over for you. You know he don't like waiting."

Marley nodded her head towards the guy, sending him a quick 'okay' before turning her head and sharing a glance with John B. There's only one thing this could really be about-the scuba gear. Marley shook her head as she headed towards the huge boat already parked at the dock, her mind racing with all the possible answers she should give. However, a part of her was also thinking about Sarah Cameron and how she couldn't keep her word for shit.

"Have a seat, Marley." Ward smiled toward the girl, gesturing toward the seat as he began stowing away some equipment.

"Yes, sir." Marley responded with her own smile, awkwardly taking a seat while Ward's back was turned for a second. Despite her dislike for the guy, the one thing she couldn't stand was his fake demeanor.

"Who dotted your cheek?" Ward inquired, not turning around from his spot, giving Marley the impression that it was the first thing his eyes noticed about her appearance.

Marley shrugged nonchalantly, "You know how my father is. Happens all the time. No big deal."

"You've had a hard year, Marley. A hard life." Ward turned to look at Marley, she couldn't really get a good look at his facial expression due to his sunglasses but she could tell it was sympathetic, and she despised it, "I feel like I've done what I could to help you. Would you agree with that?"

Marley clenched her jaw, "Yes, sir." Shifting in her seat, she ran a hand over her mouth, a clear sign of annoyance on her face as she tried to maintain composure.

"We had a deal, Marley." Ward faced the girl, giving her his full attention before turning back to his equipment, "And I told you, you could always come
to me if you ever need anything, is that true?"